The invention relates to a brush-less washing installation for vehicles, such as motor vehicles.
A brush-less washing installation for motor vehicles is to be found for example in German patent specification No. 2 943 888, disclosing a portal assembly which carries a nozzle assembly for spraying washing fluid on to the vehicle to be washed. In that arrangement the nozzle assembly comprises two vertically arranged rows of nozzles which are mounted to the columns of the portal assembly and a horizontally arranged row of nozzles provided on the transverse beam member of the portal assembly. The portal assembly can be designed to move backwards and forwards relative to the vehicle or it may be designed to be stationary. In the latter case the vehicles to be cleaned then have to be driven through the portal assembly during the washing operation. It is also possible for a plurality of such portal assemblies to be arranged in succession.
The disadvantage of that installation is that it operates substantially only in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to be washed, which thus generally results in defective cleaning of the front and rear end surfaces of the vehicle. In practice an attempt is made to overcome that deficiency by the parts of the vehicle in question being additionally cleaned, in most cases before the vehicle is driven into the actual washing installation, by means of a hand-guided steam lance or a similar manually operated washing device. That however has the disadvantage of involving expenditure in terms of time and operator costs which are not inconsiderable in comparison with the actual washing operation.